Spring sash balance



IN1/EN on. 67e as fwn #T7-ys G. B. HAAS SPRING SASH BALANCE Filed Jan. l2, 1948 Dec. 19, 1950 Patented Dec. 19, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE eremo SASH JBALANQE Glenn B. Haas, Qak Harbor, Ohio, assigner to Star Sash Balance Corporation, vOak Harbor, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application J anuary 12, 1948, Serial No, 1,772

4 Claims- 1 This invention relates to building hardware and in particular to sash balances.

@ne object of this invention is to provide a Fspring lsash balance which will apply a frictiona'l drag to the tapedrum so as to counteract the tendency for the sash balance to pull the sash upward slightly and open the window lwhen the sash is in its lowered position.

Another object is to provide a spring sash balance of the foregoing type having a friction washer positioned between the tape drum or cups and the inner wall of the housing so as to apply a frictional drag to the drum or cups and prevent undesired opening of the window.

Another object is to provide a spring sash :balance wherein the tape drum is composed of a pair of oppositely-facing nesting cups having inside them a tubular spacer which maintains the walls of the opposed cups at a predetermined spacing, the spacer in turn being rotatably mounted upon an axle, preferably tubular, mounted on and extending between the side walls of the sash balance housing.

"In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in vertical section, of a spring sash balance, according to a preferred form of the present invention, as installed in a window frame;

Figure 2 is a vertical cross-:section along the line 2-2 in Figure l;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of a tubular axle used in the sash balance of Figures l and 2;

Figure 4 is a rightfhand end elevation vof the axle shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a front elevation of a tubular spacer used in the sash balance shown in Figures l and 2 .and mounted on the tubular axle of Figures aand 4.; and

Figure S is a right-hand end elevation of the spacer shown in Figure 5.

Referring to the drawings in detail, Figure l shows a spring sash balance generally designated ioaccording to a preferred form of the invention as mounted upon a window frame, generally designated ll. The window frame il, which is conventional, has side members l2 and a top member i3, the side members l2 having grooves I4 for the Opposite ends of the top member I3. The latter has a rectangular opening i5 through which the housing, generally designated IG, projects upward.

The housing l5 includes a mounting plate l? having one end secured in the groove i4 and the other end provided with Ya hole IS with tapering side walls for receiving a screw E9 by which the mounting plate il' is secured to the top mein iger f3 (Figure -1). The mounting plate ti is provided with a struck-up portion 2e, the end of which engages one end of a rectangular aperture il in the housing `face plate 22, the two ends serving-as positioning stops to one another. The

vapertures 23 and 2li respectively.

opposite ends of the mounting plate l1 and face plate -22 are provided with aligned rectangular Y A tab 25 formed by striking it upward from the aperture v23 extends upward through the aperture 24. The tab 25 engages the inner surface of `the housing side wall 26, which is of approximately U-shaped form, and which is integral with one of the end walls 2l ofthe housing I 6 (Figure 2). Similarly, the face plate 22 is integral with the opposite end wall 28 of the housing l5 so that these in eiect form opposed lhousing halves 29 and 30 respectively. The housing half 35 is provided with laterally projecting tabs 3l extending from the periphery of the end wall y23 and lying closely adjacent the side wall 26.

The end walls 21 and 28 are each provided with a plurality of spaced slots 32 and 33 (Fig-ure 2) through which pass tong-ues or tabs 34 and 35 respectively on the opposite ends of a roughly tubular axle 35 (Figure 3) having a slot @ilextending axially thereacross. Rotatably mounted upon the axle 35 are two oppositely-facing and nesting cups or drum halves 38 and 38 which in assembly form the tape drum 4D. The cups 38 and 39 are provided with openings Qi and 42 respectively for the passage of the tubular axle 32, and their end walls i3 and 44 are provided Vwith central annular hub portions and 4S respectively projecting outward in axial directions therefrom-` The peripheral walls 4l' and 43 of the cups or drum halves 38 and 39 telescope or nest with one another.

Mounted between the adjacent surfaces of the end walls 2l' and 133 is an annular friction washer @S (Figure 2) of iiore or yother suitable material and having a central opening through which the tubular axle 35 passes. The hub portions 45 and (35 are accurately spaced apart tromone another by means of a tubular spacer 5l (Figures 2. 5 and 6) which has a roughly cylindrical body portion 52 with yend fianges 53 and an axial slot 54. The spacer 5! fits over the axle 36 with its slot 54 in alignment with the slot 3l. Extending through the slots 3l and 5a and hooked around their edges on one vside thereof (Figures 1 and 2) is the reversely bent end 55 of a coil spring 55, the outer end of which is reversely bent as at 57i. The bent end 5l is hooked around aninwardly-struck lug 58 formed out of an aperture 59 in the peripheral wall 41 of the cup or drum 'half .38.

vpe-ripheral wall 'rthemw Zaccurately positioning t. .e .drum halves or 0.11105 38 and 39 circumferential-1r relatively to one another. Finally, the

peripheral wall 48 of the drum half 39 is provided with an elongated aperture 65 (Figure 1) extending from and overlying the apertures 59 and 60 and bridge portion 6I of the peripheral wall 41.

Secured to and extending around the bridge portion 6I is a loop 66 (Figure l) on the inner end of a tape 61 of metal or other suitable material. The tape 61 passes outward through the aperture 60 and around the peripheral wall 48, then downward through the apertures 24 and 23. Secured to its lower end, as by the roughly U- shaped clip 68, is a stirrup 69 in the form of an open loop. The stirrup 69 is connected to the window sash in a conventional manner.

In the assembly of the sash balance of this invention, the tape 61 which has previously been cut to length and provided with a loop at one end, is inserted in the cup 38 with its loop placed over the bridge portion 6 I. The spring 56, which has previously been cut to length vand provided with the hook portions 55 and 51 at its opposite ends, is wound on a winding machine and likewise positioned within the cup 38 with its hook portion 51 hooked over the lug 58. The axle 36, surrounded by the spacer I, is then inserted in the cup 33 with the slots 54 and 31 in registry and the end 55 of the spring 56 is hooked through these slots into the axle 36 (Figure 1) The outer cup 39 is then positioned over the inner cup in nesting relationship therewith. The free end of the tape 61 is then inserted through the'openings 23 and 24 in the plate I1, which has been previously spot-welded to the housing portion 22 -with the apertures 23 and 24 in registry. The

stirrup 69 is then secured to the end of the tape 61 by means of the clip 68. The tape is then wound around the periphery of the above assembly until the stirrup approaches the apertures 23, 24, and the tabs are inserted through the slots 33 in the housing end wall 28. The friction washer 49 is then placed in contact with the cup 38 with the axle 36 passing through its central opening 5I), after which the housing half 3G is superimposed upon the entire assembly with the tabs 34 passing through the slots 32. With the housing halves 29 and 39 in engagement in this manner (Figure 2), the tabs 34 and 35 are bent over and clinched, thereby holding the entire assembly in position.

In the operation of the invention, the sash balance is secured to the top member I3 of the window frame I I in the opening I5 thereof. Let it be assumed that the sash balance is in aposition corresponding to the raised position of the window sash (Figure 1). When the sash is pulled downward to close the window, the tape 61 is unwound from the drum half 39, rotating the latter and winding up the coil spring 56. When the window sash reaches its lowest position, the friction washer 49 by exerting a friction drag between the hub portion and the end wall 21 prevents the undesired lifting of the window sash before it is raised by the operator. When the operator lifts the sash, however, he overcomes the drag of the friction washer 49 and opens the window, the force of the spring 56 counterbalancing the weight of the sash.

What I claim is:

l. A sash balance comprising a housing structure, an approximately tubular axle mounted in said housing structure, a iiexible connector drum rotatably mounted on said axle in said structure and having axially spaced opposite sides, a spring element interconnecting said drum and housing structure and adapted to store up energy upon rotation of said drum, an elongated flexible connector interconnecting said drum and sash and adapted to be wound upon said drum, and an approximately tubular spacer within said drum and encircling said axle, said spacer having opposite end portions engageable with the inner surfaces of said opposite sides to hold said sides apart from one another in predetermined spaced relationship.

2. A sash balance comprising a housing structure, an approximately tubular axle mounted in said housing structure, a flexible connector drum rotatably mounted on said axle in said structure and having axially spaced opposite sides, a spring element interconnecting said drum and housing structure and adapted to store up energy upon rotation of said drum, an elongated flexible connector interconnecting said drum and sash and adapted to be wound upon said drum, and a spacer within said drum and encircling said axle, said spacer having opposite end portions engageable with the inner surfaces of said opposite sides to hold said sides apart from one another in predetermined spaced relationship, said spacer comprising a tubular element mounted on said axle and having drum-contacting portions at its opposite ends.

3. A sash balance comprising a housing structure, an axle mounted in said housing structure, a flexible connector drum rotatably mounted on said axle in said structure and having axially spaced opposite sides, a spring element interconnecting said drum and housing structure and adapted to store up energy upon rotation of said drum, an elongated flexible connector interconnecting said drum and sash and adapted to be wound upon said drum, and a spacer within said drum with its opposite end portions engageable with said opposite sides to hold said sides in predetermined spaced relationship, said spacer comprising a tubular element mounted on said axle and having drum-contacting portions at its opposite ends and having an aperture therethrough for the passage of said spring element.

4. A sash balance comprising a housing structure, a ilexible connector drum rotatably mounted in said structure and having axially spaced opposite sides, a spring element interconnecting said drum and housing structure and adapted to store up energy upon rotation of said drum, an elongated iiexible connector interconnecting said drum and sash and adapted to be wound upon said drum, a spacer within said drum with its opposite end portions engageable with the inner surfaces of said opposite sides to hold said sides in predetermined spaced relationship, and a friction drag device interposed between and frictionally engaging the inner surface of said housing structure and the outer surface of one of the opposite sides of said drum whereby to retard rotation of said drum.

GLENN B. HAAS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le 0f this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,472,980 Hubbard Nov. 6, 1923 1,573,512 Bush Feb. 16, 1926 1,644,249 Harrison Oct. 4, 1927 2,226,721 Huff Dec. 3l, 1940 2,241,969 Tappen May 13, 1941 

